John was the third child and son born to Wells Joiner and Celia Ann Elizabeth Causey in 1840, Sumter Co. Ga. The family moved north to Campbell Co. ca 1848, where he and his three brothers, Green, Robert and Thomas all enlisted in Co K 41st on 4 Mar 1862. According to his obituary he fought under General Tige Anderson. After the war he married Sarah Elizabeth Moseley and they had five children. After the war John became a mason, and then joined the police force where he eventually became Captain. He died in Atlanta in 1927.